キャプテンマークと銭湯と（読みもの）
Captain Mark and the Bathhouse
カテゴリー: Japanese Children's Books、おすすめ！日本の子どもの本、読みもの／chapter books and novels
『キャプテンマークと 銭湯と』（Kyaputen maku to sento to）
今の子どもたちが夢中になるサッカーと、今は消えつつある銭湯をつなぐ物語。
サッカーのクラブチームに所属している中学生の周斗（しゅうと）は、ある日、キャプテンを新入りと交替させられ、友だちに心ない言葉を投げつけてチームメートから批判され、いら立ちがつのる。そんなとき、幼い頃祖父と通った銭湯の楽々湯を見つけ、入ってみた周斗は、かちかちになっていた心も体もほどけていくのを感じる。それからは何度も楽々湯に通って、そこが癒やしの場所になっていくと同時に、そこで出会う人びととの交流によって、周斗は新たな視野でものを見ることができるようにもなっていく。
楽々湯の常連には、地元のお年寄りも多いが、若いファンもいる。児童養護施設で育った左官屋の比呂（ひろ）は、いい親方に恵まれ、自分なりのベストを尽くそうと仕事をがんばっている。女子高校生で銭湯オタクのコナは、インスタグラムで銭湯の良さをアピールしている。
しかし、2 代にわたって77 年続いてきた楽々湯も、とうとう閉店することになった。店主の老夫婦には、薪での風呂たきが無理になったのだ。閉店の日、試合に勝利してわだかまりも解けたチームのメンバーは、常連たちと一緒に楽々湯につめかけるのだが、途中で停電に…。最後まで営業を支えようと奮闘する周斗たちに共感して読める。（さくま）
| 出版社 | KADOKAWA |
|---|---|
| 初版年 | 2019年 |
| ISBN | 9784041077054 |
| ページ数 | 248頁 |
| サイズ | 20×14 |
| 対象年齢 | 13歳から |
| キーワード | サッカー 銭湯 キャプテン 友情 |
Captain Mark and the Bathhouse
This interesting story links soccer, which is all the rage among children these days, and the public bathhouses that are now slowly disappearing.
Shuto, a junior high school student who belongs to the soccer club team, is shocked when he is replaced as captain by newcomer Daichi, and gets irritated when he is criticized by his team mates for saying cruel things to him. When he comes across the public bathhouse where he used to go with his late grandfather as a little boy, he decides to go in and feels his irritation melt away as he soaks in the hot water. After this he goes to the bathhouse regularly, and it not only becomes a place of healing for him, but he also begins to see things from a new perspective as he chats with the people he meets there. He comes to understand that even Daichi, who he used to resent for being able to do everything well, has a big problem of his own.
Most of the regular customers at the bathhouse are local elderly people, but there are also young people too. A plasterer called Hiro, who grew up in a children’s home, has been blessed with a good boss and does his best at work. Kona is a high school student obsessed with bathhouses, and she posts on Instagram about their attractions.
However, after 77 continuous years of business through two generations of ownership, the bathhouse is finally to close down. The old couple who run the place can no longer cope with burning the wood to heat the water. On closing day the entire soccer team, having won a game and with all the ill-feeling between them dispelled, all crowd into the bathhouse along with the regulars. But then there is a power cut . . . Readers are sure to sympathize with the efforts of Shuto and the others to support the business right until the end. (Sakuma)
- Sato, Itsuko | Illus. Sato, Makiko
- Kadokawa
- 2019
- 248 pages
- 20×14
- ISBN 9784041077054
- Ages 13 +
Soccer, Public Baths, Captain, Friendship